Searching for Traces: Tübingen 10 Years Later

In the years that followed, I went  to Germany a few times, but not to Tübingen. I was convinced that the city could no longer be the same as it had been during my student days. During that time, I knew many other students, especially those who also lived on Waldhäuser Ost. So, I stayed away from Tübingen in order not to become melancholic and emotional. In addition, Tübingen was no longer on my regular route and the journey there was very long.

The pandemic hit my Italian hometown Lodi hard. During that time, I took the opportunity to revive old contacts, to dream of trips and to plan them as well. I decided to organize a reunion with my friends from university and to revive my little Tübingen world. Many of my former fellow students lived in Germany or Switzerland and enthusiastically agreed to a reunion. When I arrived in Tübingen, I was incredibly happy to be back. Immediately after my arrival, I started my game "Let's find the differences!". I discovered: not only were the Naldo (local transportation) buses still there, but also the Neckar Bridge, the Neckar Island, the punting boats, the Hölderlinturm, the Neckarmüller, the Unckel, Café Lieb, the La Dolce Vita ice cream parlor, the Manufaktur, even the clothing stores were still the same. Every time I saw something that had not changed, I was very happy. Despite the pandemic, despite the many years: my university town of Tübingen had not changed fundamentally, and the only thing that was missing was me. That gave me a good feeling, a feeling of stability. Since our reunion was not scheduled until Sunday, I spent Friday and Saturday browsing the stores, visiting the new Botanical Garden, and meeting a friend who had stayed in Tübingen. Sunday morning I visited the Faculty of Economics in Mohlstraße and the University Library (UB) in Wilhelmsstraße. The "UB" is huge and very modern and is open until 10:00 pm. As a student, I spent a lot of time here. 

A little later my friends started to arrived in Tübingen and there was a big reunion! Of course we ate something Swabian. Afterwards we took a tour through the old Botanical Garden, went to the castle and enjoyed the view of the city from the Schulberg.  At first glance, Tübingen seems a very small town and yet - even though I spent about two years there, there are still so many places to discover.

For three days I felt like Marty McFly from "Back to the Future" in his time machine! On the day of my departure I said goodbye to Tübingen one more time - but this time with a smile in one eye and a tear in the other.

- Annalisa Ziliani